I'll say up front that this will have something of a self promotional flavour so if that is a turn off then please click elsewhere.

Since my very early days as a blogger, I've been convinced that this medium has huge potential to help practitioners build reputation. I'm a tech consulting guy at heart but I don't forget my roots as a business recovery specialist working for NatWest on a contingency fee basis at a time when the economy was in bad shape and when small business was suffering.

Recently, TechDirt called for tips on surviving the current credit crunch. TechDirt is a place where 'experts' can go and provide opinions, often in competition. The amounts you can earn are small - typically $250-500 - but if you know your stuff then it's often less than an hour's work to put out a view so when seen that way, the payback is pretty good. 

I lashed something up, knowing that it would also be syndicated to the American Express Open Forum. According to that site, 9 people have found what I had to say 'useful.' A small number perhaps but it is 9 people who maybe didn't know some of the things I was thinking about.

I'm pretty sure that anyone on IT Counts could have done the same or better. So what's the best way to go about this?

• Connect to networks of people with whom you have an affiliation. IT Counts is a network but then so are places like the Microsoft Dynamics site. My personal weblog is a kind of network as it attracts many people to comment.
• Build your own network by offering an open forum or weblog to which you regularly contribute. Goodman Jones is quietly establishing a reputation in this way.
• Participate. Time is valuable I know but as an indicator, I put aside about 30% of my time for pro bono assignments , networking, commenting and studying 'what's going on.' The other 70% is worth way more than 100%.
• Pick topics carefully. The TechDirt one was a no-brainer but I doubt I contribute more than a dozen times a year.
• Use the available technology to keep track of where your words are going. I found out through a simple Google news 'watch' I have set on my name. If you do the same search you'll see 107,000 references. 

This is marketing by another name but it is effective, adds value and helps you build up your reputation. What professional can say no to that?